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I worked with Suzanne at Marmot Mountain Works a couple of years ago. She was a stellar individual. She was the bicyclist fatally left hooked in West Seattle this October.

This dismissal of bicyclists lives thru weak punishments is despicable. There appears to be cases in other states clearly outlining a drivers' negligence and culpability when causing the death of bicyclists, the lack of 'established negligence' in Washington state is what gets so many drivers accused of causing deaths by their cars off the hook with little or no criminal punishment.

I think the death of a bicyclist by a driver left hooking a biker clearly shows negligence. in the case of my friend Suzanne, it seems like the DA may never charge the driver. and he killed someone, he violated Suzanne's right of way, and directly caused her death. He is GUILTY even if he isn't charged. and that is the sad letdown - our courts light treatment of drivers that kill bicyclists.

Yes, I remember the story about the memorial held at the Westlake Center. It does seem that there has been no followup story on whether the driver was charged, or will be charged. Interestingly, I cannot find the name of the driver anywhere, indicating that he has not been charged with anything.

I know there were days when I would come home after going for a walk, and telling my husband about the scary things that happened in crosswalks. It always made me so mad, because although I am healthy and able to look for danger, I realised that children certainly wouldn't be looking out for themselves the way I can. I also knew that if I were blind, in a wheelchair, or otherwise disabled, drivers wouldn't 'see' me. Either way, it would always be the fault of the 'pedestrian' or the fault of the 'cyclist', never the fault of the driver.

I do think we will eventually reach that critical 'tipping point', though. The Seattle Bicycle Master Plan is a step in the right direction. Not enough, but a start.

East Hill

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